Cythraul:I use my debit card for everything. I obviously take wild risks with my financial security.

I had never heard of the $50.00 bank hold upon gas station transactions until a year or two ago. I was amazed that crap like that was legal.

If you are low on funds the bank will hold the money, I had it happen to me when I was low on funds which should be illegal, they either hold it everytime or non of the time. If you get gas and use debit and not credit you don't get the hold.

I had someone use my card number and address to buy an egift card for Lands End (which I've never bought anything from in my life). 2 phone calls, and I had my money back and a new debit card on the way. One more, and a police report was filed. No hassle, just the fun of knowing that somebody out there had all my information. Yay.

Seems counter intuitive. I'd much rather protect money I actually have than money I don't have.

Makes perfect sense to me. The CC company's client is you, not the store you're buying from, so they're going to protect you with the weight of a very big corporation and their insurers. If you spend your own money then you have to fight the store yourself to get it back, where the CC company can just up and take it and let the store cry.

Hotels and rental car agencies are a couple of the worst places to use a debit card. Because of the many risks of charges on property at a hotel or damage you could inflict on your rental car, these businesses will often lock up large amounts of your account for 5-10 days until the actual charges clear. Best thing to do at either if you want to charge it to a debit card but also own a credit card is to use your credit card when you check in but change the payment to debit card at checkout for the actual amount. The more you know...

revman64:Hotels and rental car agencies are a couple of the worst places to use a debit card. Because of the many risks of charges on property at a hotel or damage you could inflict on your rental car, these businesses will often lock up large amounts of your account for 5-10 days until the actual charges clear. Best thing to do at either if you want to charge it to a debit card but also own a credit card is to use your credit card when you check in but change the payment to debit card at checkout for the actual amount. The more you know...

I think for cars they hold either $300 or $500 and your right about the payment thing. I hold all of my cars on credit then pay with my debit.

For rental cars, hotels, and other places that place "holds" on funds, I use my company credit cards at check-in, then pay the bill with my personal debit card in the end. My company never knows, as the transactions do not show up on the statements, and I'm not out the (sometimes) hundreds of dollars that sit in limbo for a week.

Never use a debit card in a strip bar, and not just for the obvious reason that you might get busted by your wife or girlfriend. Like the gas station, they will hold money for a week or sometimes longer, but at a much larger amount. I learned my lesson when one here held $300 on a $27 tab for a week.

I can't stand it when people use their debit or credit cards at grocery stores. What a security risk. Besides, you don't care how much you are spending, and don't even try to get a good deal. Nope, I'm sticking with checks. There is nothing like deliberately writing out the amount, longhand for the numbers, and putting my good ol' Jonh Q. Alywa signature on the line. Of course, I have to wait until the cashier runs all the items, my coupons (doubles on Tuesday!), and then the little clerk has to get manager approval for my Chardonnay. Add in getting the bagboy to run over to service to get my Winstons. Finally, when I get my total (after bickering over the club card discount on Bounty towels), I pull out ol' big wallet. Being able to balance my register while waiting in line is nice too... always know to the cent how much BOA is holding for me.

To all the people biatching in line... FU. This is my time. Don't like it? Use the self checkout.

alywa:I can't stand it when people use their debit or credit cards at grocery stores. What a security risk. Besides, you don't care how much you are spending, and don't even try to get a good deal. Nope, I'm sticking with checks. There is nothing like deliberately writing out the amount, longhand for the numbers, and putting my good ol' Jonh Q. Alywa signature on the line. Of course, I have to wait until the cashier runs all the items, my coupons (doubles on Tuesday!), and then the little clerk has to get manager approval for my Chardonnay. Add in getting the bagboy to run over to service to get my Winstons. Finally, when I get my total (after bickering over the club card discount on Bounty towels), I pull out ol' big wallet. Being able to balance my register while waiting in line is nice too... always know to the cent how much BOA is holding for me.

To all the people biatching in line... FU. This is my time. Don't like it? Use the self checkout.

Cythraul:I use my debit card for everything. I obviously take wild risks with my financial security.

I had never heard of the $50.00 bank hold upon gas station transactions until a year or two ago. I was amazed that crap like that was legal.

The card is swiped before the transaction is made. At this point, no one knows how much gas you want.

What if you want $30 worth of gas, but only have $20 in your account? You put in the card, pump $30 worth of gas, then what? You drive away with $10 free gas and an overdraft fee, which nobody wants.

So instead, they authorize a fixed amount, say $50, and then deduct from it when you're done pumping (ideally). If you don't have $50 in the account, you can't pump.

The real problem arises on your end because the transaction takes so farking long to settle, you only spent $30 on gas but you were charged for $50, the difference wasn't made up immediately afterward, and you don't have access to that $20. The initial charge is just the gas station covering their ass / making a reasonable effort to prevent theft.

There's an easy fix, but for most people it's more convenient to fill up their tank, not "put $20 in, " which should really be an option on the credit card pump.

Wow are things ever backwards in the states. Mydebit card has never left my sight in a restaurant, don't you guys have wireless debit machines that the waitress brings to you down there? As for a gas station transaction withholding more than the purchase, wtf? The transaction is digital and instant, if the money is not in your account, you don't get to buy the gas. Where in the world are there banks that don't communicate transactions with each other instantly? As for money being refunded, again it's an instant transaction, the merchant simply reverses the funds back to your account the same way they took it out, with the debit machine.With the new chip technology the card never even leaves my hand, I place it into the machine, enter my pin number, remove the card and take my new expensive crap I didn't need home and throw it in a corner where it will sit until judgement day.This article makes your system sound antiquated and set up so you would prefer to carry around stupid amounts of cash just waiting to be taken from you by your friendly neighbourhood mugger.

Ohlookabutterfly:Wow are things ever backwards in the states. Mydebit card has never left my sight in a restaurant, don't you guys have wireless debit machines that the waitress brings to you down there?

What the hell are wireless debit machines? Never even heard of one of those. Closest thing I can think of is that hardware attachment and app combination for cell phones that can turn your cell phone into a card transaction machine.

As for a gas station transaction withholding more than the purchase, wtf? The transaction is digital and instant, if the money is not in your account, you don't get to buy the gas. Where in the world are there banks that don't communicate transactions with each other instantly? As for money being refunded, again it's an instant transaction, the merchant simply reverses the funds back to your account the same way they took it out, with the debit machine.

I'm not familiar with the technical details of electronic transactions, so I'd like to know the answer to these questions as well.

FTA:Never use your debit card at restaurants. Restaurants are one of the few places where your debit card actually leaves your sight and you have no idea if someone is writing down your card number somewhere.

Am I missing something here? The same thing is going to happen to a credit card.

If you have some time to kill, pay with cash. I recently paid for some groceries with a twenty. First I had to get the the cashier's attention since she was looking elsewhere, expecting me to be swiping and pushing buttons for a while. Then there was a beat when I handed her the bills and she tried to process what she was looking at. Finally, there was a grinding sound and a faint aroma of burnt toast as she attempted to do simple arithmetic in her head. To her credit, I eventually got the correct change.

Seems counter intuitive. I'd much rather protect money I actually have than money I don't have.

Makes perfect sense to me. The CC company's client is you, not the store you're buying from, so they're going to protect you with the weight of a very big corporation and their insurers. If you spend your own money then you have to fight the store yourself to get it back, where the CC company can just up and take it and let the store cry.

The store actually can cry. They call up the bank and tell their story*. Chargebacks are bad for their business and their reputation with the bank. Then your chargeback is invalidated and they get your money.

*in e-commerce, this was "we sent it to them and they signed for it. Does your billing address for the cardholder match the address we sent it to?"

My debit card is emblazoned with the "MasterCard" logo, which means all transactions are functionally credit card purchases except the money comes directly from my bank account so I don't accumulate debt and therefore pay no interest. (No bank fees either unless I use an ATM, which I never plan to.)

I've had the card info stolen once, and getting my money back only took a call to the bank and filling out a form that was mailed to me. Getting a new card was actually harder 'cause I had to show up in person at the bank for that.

Americans trying to figure out debit cards are so damn cute. American banks trying to figure out how to fark them bloody with debit cards is annoying. You guys need to push for some legislation over this because your banking system is screwing you big time.

Egoy3k:Americans trying to figure out debit cards are so damn cute. American banks trying to figure out how to fark them bloody with debit cards is annoying. You guys need to push for some legislation over this because your banking system is screwing you big time.

Get out of here with that evil regulatory socialist talk, you pinko commie.

Waldo Pepper:Cythraul: I use my debit card for everything. I obviously take wild risks with my financial security.

I had never heard of the $50.00 bank hold upon gas station transactions until a year or two ago. I was amazed that crap like that was legal.

this is the opposite, if you use your debit card as a credit card they will put a hold on whatever dollar amount is set which is usually closer to $75 or $100. Using your debit card only puts the actual amount.

No, when you use debit it has to pull a dollar amount to validate funds available, ya'll be wrong and such.

A little known fact is that you get product insurance and other benefits with most major credit cards, that you don't get with debit. Seriously, go to your bank's website and you should be able to find all the benefits you get from your credit card.

Plus, I figure there's enough chance of cards lost, stolen, or recorded for fraud, that I'd rather that happen to Visa's/MC's money than my own money direct from my checking account. Screw that.

Ohlookabutterfly:Wow are things ever backwards in the states. Mydebit card has never left my sight in a restaurant, don't you guys have wireless debit machines that the waitress brings to you down there? As for a gas station transaction withholding more than the purchase, wtf? The transaction is digital and instant, if the money is not in your account, you don't get to buy the gas. Where in the world are there banks that don't communicate transactions with each other instantly? As for money being refunded, again it's an instant transaction, the merchant simply reverses the funds back to your account the same way they took it out, with the debit machine.With the new chip technology the card never even leaves my hand, I place it into the machine, enter my pin number, remove the card and take my new expensive crap I didn't need home and throw it in a corner where it will sit until judgement day.This article makes your system sound antiquated and set up so you would prefer to carry around stupid amounts of cash just waiting to be taken from you by your friendly neighbourhood mugger.

My debit card is emblazoned with the "MasterCard" logo, which means all transactions are functionally credit card purchases except the money comes directly from my bank account so I don't accumulate debt and therefore pay no interest. (No bank fees either unless I use an ATM, which I never plan to.)

I've had the card info stolen once, and getting my money back only took a call to the bank and filling out a form that was mailed to me. Getting a new card was actually harder 'cause I had to show up in person at the bank for that.

The moral of the story is; get a better debit card.=Smidge=

I use a credit card for all my purchases. I don't accumulate debt or pay interest since I pay it off every month. On top of that I get 1-2% cash back on all my purchases which easily amounts to a few hundred bucks of free money a year which you *dont* get with your fancy debit card.

Xavier99:Alywa - Sounds like you are a perfect canidate for the Old fogeys and Super coupon shopper line.

Nah, he is more like a troll making people wait five minutes while he writes out the check and then records the amount. Most people understand you can get the sales and use coupons and still save everybody's time with plastic. He gets a 1/10

Besides this article is more of a list for where to use other people's cards.

ElBarto79:I use a credit card for all my purchases. I don't accumulate debt or pay interest since I pay it off every month. On top of that I get 1-2% cash back on all my purchases which easily amounts to a few hundred bucks of free money a year which you *dont* get with your fancy debit card.

Every time I use my credit card to buy gas, a $100 dollar hold is placed on it. It doesn't really other me too much as I generally pay it off as soon as possible, but it's a pain in the arse when I'm traveling. I've only got a 2,000 limit ... amurica is expensive.

Cythraul:Ohlookabutterfly: Wow are things ever backwards in the states. Mydebit card has never left my sight in a restaurant, don't you guys have wireless debit machines that the waitress brings to you down there?

What the hell are wireless debit machines? Never even heard of one of those. Closest thing I can think of is that hardware attachment and app combination for cell phones that can turn your cell phone into a card transaction machine.

As for a gas station transaction withholding more than the purchase, wtf? The transaction is digital and instant, if the money is not in your account, you don't get to buy the gas. Where in the world are there banks that don't communicate transactions with each other instantly? As for money being refunded, again it's an instant transaction, the merchant simply reverses the funds back to your account the same way they took it out, with the debit machine.

I'm not familiar with the technical details of electronic transactions, so I'd like to know the answer to these questions as well.

For the first one, the name pretty much describes what the device is. It's a wireless machine about 8x20 cm (but pretty heavy, they're a kilo easy) that processes debit card transactions. The server brings it to your table, or your seat at a sporting event or whatever, you swipe your card and get your stuff and a receipt.

For the second one, the money doesn't actually come out of your account. It's a "hold" (or "pre-authorization" as some pumps call it), which basically says "This guy might owe us $50 for stolen gas at some point, so until we have the chance to actually go out and check our receipts against our inventory, just freeze that money for us would you?". The actual amount you pay comes out of that held amount but the rest can stay unavailable for a while depending on how your banking system works. Newer pumps will ask you how much you want to put on hold for this transaction and just stop if you try to take more than you've paid in advance for.

Cythraul:Ohlookabutterfly: Wow are things ever backwards in the states. Mydebit card has never left my sight in a restaurant, don't you guys have wireless debit machines that the waitress brings to you down there?

What the hell are wireless debit machines? Never even heard of one of those. Closest thing I can think of is that hardware attachment and app combination for cell phones that can turn your cell phone into a card transaction machine.

As for a gas station transaction withholding more than the purchase, wtf? The transaction is digital and instant, if the money is not in your account, you don't get to buy the gas. Where in the world are there banks that don't communicate transactions with each other instantly? As for money being refunded, again it's an instant transaction, the merchant simply reverses the funds back to your account the same way they took it out, with the debit machine.

I'm not familiar with the technical details of electronic transactions, so I'd like to know the answer to these questions as well.

All electronic transactions go through whats called a merchant. These merchants are the middle men that process the transactions, and handle all the money transferring. Typically merchants are affiliated with a bank. Most small business, like gas stations, actually don't charge your card immediately the transaction happens. All charges are usuallysent once a day as a batch. What they actually do when your card is read, is that it just gets a signal back as to whether its authorized or not. There has to be a value in there for authorization, so they will set it at $50, $75, or $100. Now the merchant knows there was a request for authorization for a card, and if you don't submit an actual payment for that card through a batch, not only is there a hold of the amount you put in on that customers line of credit, the business will get charged fees for not batching in a certain amount of time, because they want to deter you from testing cards limits and then ripping someone off somewhere else. Also there is a fee for submitting a batch, like .20. So in order to keep costs down, they don't submit every charge individually, as it would cost 20 cents more each time. There is such a small profit margin on gas when it comes to the individually owned station, that sometimes they may not batch until a certain dollar amount has been paid.

Hotels... better hotels will warn you to not use a debit card (i didn't have my credit cards for a recent trip),but if a hotel charges you sur-cahrges, mini-bar, etc you don't have much recourse if your debit card is dinged

This is all bizarre to me. I use my debit card all the time at gas stations and all they do is authorize my account for $1 at the time I swipe it at the pump. Then a few days later that $1 charge turns into whatever amount I spent at the gas station.

I've had friends tell me that they get huge holds put on funds in their account, but I have never seen it. I guess I would suggest changing banks if they are holding that much of your money for that long a period of time.

Buttle not Tuttle:FTA: Never use your debit card at restaurants. Restaurants are one of the few places where your debit card actually leaves your sight and you have no idea if someone is writing down your card number somewhere.

Am I missing something here? The same thing is going to happen to a credit card.

But with credit card, u have more theft protections and it doesnt take YOUR cash out or YOUR bank account that you have waiting to pay your mortgage or electric bill with.